Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Vampire$ (1998) Directed by John Carpenter.

Jack Crow: You ever seen a vampire?
Father Adam Guiteau: No I haven't.
Jack Crow: No... Well first of all, they're not romantic. It’s not like they're a bunch of f***in' f*gs hoppin' around in rented formal wear and seducing everybody in sight with cheesy Euro-trash accents, all right? Forget whatever you've seen in the movies: they don't turn into bats, crosses don't work. Garlic? You wanna try garlic? You could stand there with garlic around your neck and one of these buggers will bend you f***ing over and take a walk up your strada-chocolata WHILE he's suckin' the blood outta your neck, all right? And they don't sleep in coffins lined in taffeta. You wanna kill one, you drive a wooden stake right through his f***in' heart. Sunlight turns 'em into crispy critters.

Vampires is based on the book Vampire$ by John Steakley. The budget for the movie was cut by a third just before production started, and major changes had to be made. Steakley said of the finished product that they used much of his dialogue and none of his plot. Sad, but still, it is a very workable movie.

Vampire$ is the story of a group of Vampire Hunters. Jack Crow (James Woods) leads the group; Anthony Montoya (Daniel Baldwin) ((the fat one)) is his second in command. They work for the Church, and for money. They are professionals; they have a system, and it pretty much works. Until one day in Texas.

They find a nest, and while they get nine goons, they don’t find the master vampire they would expect with that number of spawn. This worries Jack, as it should. That night, they are living it up at the Motel, enjoying the best booze and hookers money can buy, all at the expense of the local Sheriff’s department, when their party is crashed.

This vampire is like none they have seen before; Six feet tall and bullet proof. He not only slaughters the entire team, but he calls Jack by name. This means that someone in the Church has betrayed them. Jack and Montoya escape, taking along Katrina, (Sheryl Lee) a working girl who the vampire built. Jack intends to use the telepathic link between a master and his spawn to track the Master Vampire down and kill him.

The Church wants Jack to regroup, build a team, and go after the monster at full strength. Jack can’t do that, because he knows there is a traitor somewhere in the Church, and because he has a window of opportunity when Katrina can see what the Master sees, but is still alive. He does not explain that to the Church.

Father Adam Guiteau (Tim Guinee) is assigned to him, and goes along, over Jack’s objections. Jack does not trust him, but he takes him, because he does need a priest.

Jack, who treats everybody like resources, has little compassion for Katrina. Montoya, who gets stuck with babysitting, starts to become more attached to the poor doomed girl.

Katrina’s visions lead them in the right direction. The Master Vampire, Valek, (Thomas Ian Griffith) was the first of his kind. A rogue priest who led the bohemian peasants in an uprising was subjected to a vicious form of exorcism for his crimes. Something went wrong, and he became the first vampire, possessed of great power, and great vulnerabilities. It seems that Valek is looking for the cross used in his exorcism to fine tune his curse, and make himself a vampire that can walk in the sunlight.

They trace him to the town where he is holed up, ready to perform the ritual. There are fifteen Masters, twice that number of goons, and Valek. Opposing them are two hunters, an untried priest, and a hooker with a hickey. What do you think the odds of success are?

The Analysis
This is an excellent vampire movie. It is classic horror; there are bad guys and dead bad guys. There is a good deal of action here as well. Casual violence, pervasive profanity, and some quite startlingly realistic scenes of gore mean this movie is definitely not for kids, but it gives this film a grown up, realistic feel. Vampires are powerful, but they don’t turn into bats. They can be killed, and if that were true, you know someone somewhere would find a way to turn that into a few bucks.

The plot, while not Steakley’s, is solid, the pacing is excellent, and the cinematography is wonderful, finding beauty in a stark land, and in grim events. The acting is superlative. Even the ham-fisted blue-collar hunters turned in believable performances. Even the hookers were great; only Katrina was too pretty to be believable.

Still, she did an excellent job. For much of the movie, she is spaced out as the blood turns her into a vampire. This is a difficult thing to act out correctly. There is always a danger that your performance will come across as flat. Fortunately her performance is as well rounded as her figure.

Her romance with Montoya is another area that could have gone seriously awry. However, Daniel, while getting less attention than his studly tribe of brothers, is an excellent actor, and can convey a great range of emotions with those way too blue eyes. Montoya is a hard man, but he is eroding, and Daniel brings that across well.

The good Father is also a good actor. He hits the right mix of green enthusiasm, and professionalism. Remember, he is a priest. It is not easy to become one. A person who does is usually fairly sure about whom they are, and that self awareness carries them through the hard times. It is a subtle thing, and difficult to capture. I was impressed with the performance.

And finally, Jack Crow. It is fairly well established that James Wood can play anything from H. R. Halderman and a wide range of other criminals, to a concerned father, to a comedic priest. His talent is staggering, as can be scene in his Oscar nominated performances in Ghosts of Mississippi, and Salvador. Mr. Woods did win the Coveted Saturn Award for this movie. His portrayal of the brutal servant of the Church brings the Spanish Inquisition up to date.
The one disappointing performance was Thomas Ian Griffith as Jan Valek. I do not think it is lack of talent, (though I do not consider him a staggeringly gifted actor) but the lack of depth to the role as it was written. For a Vampire to bloom there must be some empathy with the damned. Here, there is none. He is a beast, and nothing more.

This is not high art, it is not big budget, but it is great. Carpenter has always worked well with limitations; he in point of fact falls back on the work of the 1930’s and 40’s and uses technique to overcome budgetary limitations. This is the mark of a real film maker. Even I could make a masterpiece with enough money to throw at it.

So if you want to put a little chill down your spine check out this classic.

Jack Crow: Let me ask you a question. When you were stabbing that vampire in there?
Father Adam Guiteau: Yeah?
Jack Crow: Did you get a little wood?
Father Adam Guiteau: Mahogany.
Jack Crow: Excuse me?
Father Adam Guiteau: Ebony.
Jack Crow: What?
Father Adam Guiteau: Teak.
Jack Crow: Are you possessed by demons?
Father Adam Guiteau: Major Chubby.
Jack Crow: Language, Padre, language!

Bloodletting on Film: Vampires.

From Dusk 'Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter
From Dusk 'Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money
From Dusk 'Till Dawn
Lost Boys: The Tribe
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Near Dark
Dracula (1979)
Vampire$
The Lost Boys
30 Days of Night



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age